This week on Cleverman, Liz realises that the time difference whilst Steph was travelling meant she couldn’t frantically text her thoughts to Stephanie; Nerida and Linda continue to be smarter and more competent than the men of the family (sadly, we don’t get to see much of Alinta); Blair makes a truly terrible pun; Kora calls Koen an arse; Sloan continues to be deplorably boring and Steph texts ‘wow WOW’ to Liz quite a lot.

Because we had to wait until Steph’s return to Australia to review these, we’re reviewing them together, plus a season overall.

This week on Cleverman, Stephanie yells ‘Nobody needs this’ half a dozen times, Latani and Alinta are our faves, and there is no Deborah Mailman.

Liz: Three Renowned Indigenous Stage Actors out of Five

Steph: Four Renowned Indigenous Stage Actors out of Five

We’re not sure if we’ll be able to post reviews for eps 5+6 immediately after, as Steph is on a plane RIGHT NOW and we’re not sure of her viewing capabilities in Germany and Poland, so the next review might be a combined one later in July.

The daily reality of living in Australia is the institutional racism that imbues every level of our government provided services. This impacts many of us, but those who are most impacted are Indigenous Australians, and it is some fucking bullshit. Today at No Award: some reading, and a request that you donate to Girl Academy, which empowers young Indigenous mums.

In a stunning break with brand, we’re starting with a blockquote from somewhere else:

Sadly, the glorious run came to an end in somewhat dramatic fashion this weekend after Opals star Alice Kunek posted an image of herself in blackface, apparently “in support of” rapper Kanye West. No word from Mr West on how he feels about that ‘support’, but we’ll hazard a guess that an African-American musician would not be overly into the idea of reappropriating the aesthetic of a famously racist musical form.

After Kunek was called out by teammate Elizabeth Cambage, a furious reaction ensued. (Against Cambage.)

Where’s Rey? I laugh at this quote EVERY TIME. How unexpected that we should sympathise with the woman, not in a mask, dealing with the world, rather than the evil dude in a mask who kills his dad! (Note: Steph is super into Kylo Ren, but she has a fictional whiny white manchild problem. She’s suitably ashamed of it.)

“I’ve spoken with Disney people, and they were completely blindsided by the reaction to the new Star Wars characters,” Marcotte went on to say. “They put a huge investment into marketing and merchandizing the Kylo Ren character. They presumed he would be the big breakout role from the film. They were completely surprised when it was Rey everyone identified with and wanted to see more of. Now they’re stuck with vast amounts of Kylo Ren product that is not moving, and a tidal wave of complaints about a lack of Rey items.”

To that end, it seems Australia and Israel have much in common. Both nations pride themselves on free and democratic principles. Both were founded on land already occupied by another people and have engaged in the systematic erasure of these people. And both deny this erasure by mythologising their own origins, invoking metaphors of a land previously barren and lifeless; where Australians talk of “nothing but bush“, Israelis boast that they “made the desert bloom“.

But Aboriginal people call Australia Day “Invasion Day,” and Palestinians refer to the creation of Israel as Al-Nakba, “The Catastrophe.” The days that the mainstream culture of these countries celebrate as their birth are the very days on which the culture of another people were marked for erasure. This is not something to be celebrated but a tragedy to be mourned.

No national holiday can be a cause for unbridled celebration when it hinges on erasing the reality of a violent past, no matter what is on the menu.

We love an Aussie YA TV series here at No Award, and we also love Indigenous media. So bring on Ready for This, an ABC3 series about five Indigenous teens from around Australia, who all excel in various fields — “various” here meaning “music” and “sport” — coming to live at a Sydney boarding house while they study.

HELLO FRIENDS. Tomorrow Victoria gets a public holiday for AFL Grand Final Eve, in a move that I cannot even. As if it’s not bad enough that we get a public holiday for a horse race, we now have to have one for sportsball.

[Liz feels compelled to note here that Stephanie never works on Fridays anyway, and a bonus public holiday in the long, break-free wasteland between the Queen’s Birthday and Cup Day is a gift to us five-day-a-week peons.]

Anyway, Stephanie is a lifelong Sydney Swans supporter, and never has she been more passionate than this year, when deadset legend Adam Goodes has been subject to the gross racism that infests our sport. So in celebration of the end of the season, have some links and commentary and feels.